Thursday, February 9, 2012

Touch Typing Tutor for Children With Special Needs

Learning to touch type can be a life changing skills for children with special needs. By learning this priceless skill these kids can improve other skills such as reading and spelling not to mention the vocabulary enhancement. The best way to teach special needs children to type is with a touch typing tutor.

There are many touch typing tutors out there aimed designed for kids with some sort of learning disability. The most popular type of learning disability these tutors are used for is Dyslexia. For years teachers across the land have used specially designed typing tutors to teach dyslexic children how to type.

But these programs have proven to be useful with other types of Special Needs including Dyspraxia / Development Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Aspergers, Semantic Pragmatic & other language disorders and Visual Impairment.

A typing program aimed for special needs children must add educational value and teach keyboard skills at the same. So such programs must include:

A focus on additional literacy benefits whilst teaching touch typing

Grammar and punctuation lessons Written and Spoken instructions A simple and uncluttered presentation style Games (A bit of fun is always welcomed) Rewards (to keep children motivated) Short Lessons

Benefits for Dyslexic Children

Learning type can bring many benefits for children with dyslexia including reading, comprehension, focus and spelling not to mention the reduction in handwriting, often a challenging area for many dyslexics.

Benefits for Visually Impaired

For the majority of visually impaired children learning keyboard skills is the only way to use a computer, despite the great strides made in voice recognition software's the keyboard still the most practical way for someone with sight problems to control a computer.

Benefits for Children with ASD

ASD is the acronym for Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Autistic children have difficulties with producing written work and evidencing progress. Reason why the chosen typing tutor must have well structured lessons with a clear beginning and a clear ending as well as a reward system which is immediate.

Benefits for Semantic Pragmatic Children

Semantic Pragmatic Disorder or SPD causes complex communication problems that can be overcomed with touch typing because it will improve the process of written communication by greatly reducing the need for a linear thought process.